[2] The song was made available for digital download and streaming at midnight local time four days later, and serves as a followup to her fifth studio-album Lilac, which was released seven months prior.

[4] "Strawberry Moon"'s composition has been described as that reminiscent of a fairy tale, with its soft piano melody and IU's delicate voice.

[6] Tanu I. Raj of NME said the song is a depiction of "the kind of easy, mature love that is unaffected by the whimsies of the heart or life" and praised IU's lyricism.

[7] She noted how the "lightness of being" becomes a "visual, sonic and lyrical theme" throughout the track and how the instrumental emphasizes the lyrics: while IU sings "feeling like floating up/Through the tense darkness/We won't be afraid" the piano "segues into atmospheric beats on the pre-chorus, as if with every word, she defies gravity and reaches a little higher", scene perfectly portrayed in the music video, where IU and her partner drive up in the sky.

[7] Tamar Herman of South China Morning Post said the track is "the perfect sonic representation of who she is and where she is in her career" and she included it on her list of Best K-pop releases of October 2021.